‘Country first before friendship’

Duterte blows off Quiboloy, hits ‘hypocritical’ Catholic Church

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The interest of the people is paramount.

This was the response of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday following statements by the camp of evangelist Apollo Quiboloy that he was being eased out of Duterte’s inner circle.

“Let me be very clear: my friendship with my friends ends where the interest of the country begins. I would as much as possible make you happy if you are my friend, but I will not allow anybody to color my decisions in government. From now on, it is always the interest of the people of the Republic of the Philippines that counts, period,” Duterte said in an interview at his favorite watering hole, the After Dark Bar in Davao City.

Duterte also lambasted the Catholic Church for attempting to erode public support for him before the May 9 elections.

He branded the Church as the “most hypocritical institution” in releasing a pastoral letter a few days before the elections to dissuade the faithful from voting for him.

A week before the elections, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines had urged the faithful to reject a “morally reprehensible” candidate who has shown “scant regard” for human rights and the teachings of the Church.

Duterte said there was nothing he could do for his friends and supporters who helped him in the campaign leading to his victory in the May 9 elections. One of them is Quiboloy, leader of the religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ the Name Above Every Name.

“I am sorry. My loyalty to my friend ends where my loyalty to my country begins,” Duterte told a press briefing yesterday.

The pastor is a long-time friend of the Davao City mayor. Quiboloy vigorously campaigned for Duterte and provided a private plane and helicopter during the campaign.

Quiboloy’s camp said the religious leader is saddened that he was eased out of the transition and selection teams that Duterte formed to prepare for his presidency.

Quiboloy used to have unlimited access to Duterte. But after Duterte won the presidency with a landslide victory, the religious leader has complained about being sidelined.

Mike Abe, Quiboloy’s spokesman, claimed some people close to Duterte are preventing the religious leader from communicating with the incoming president.

Duterte, who has been mum on his reported rift with Quiboloy for the past days, said he was forced to speak yesterday to quash speculations about his friendships and the presidency. 

Efforts to patch things up between Duterte and Quiboloy are ongoing. 

Duterte clarified, however, that his statements are directed at Quiboloy’s spokesman and not at the pastor himself. Duterte said he did not intend to snub anyone and he never allowed anyone to cordon him off or restrict his movements. 

He stressed that decisions on the composition of his Cabinet would solely be his.

“I never consulted anybody, I decide on my own,” he said.

Duterte also lashed out at critics questioning the qualifications and integrity of his appointees.

“To all those who are complaining, I’ll let them sit beside me and let them choose. But if it fails, they have to face the consequences,” he said.

Duterte said his Cabinet would be composed of “bright people.”

“The interest of the country deserves only the best and the brightest,” he said.

“I’m surrounded by valedictorians,” Duterte added,  referring to prospective members of his Cabinet-in-waiting: transportation secretary Arthur Tugade, finance secretary Carlos Dominguez, foreign affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay,  and justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre.

“Among our group, I was the only one who got a grade of 75,” he said.

Tugade is a classmate of Duterte at the San Beda College of Law while Dominguez is his former classmate, neighbor and childhood friend.

Aguirre was also a classmate of Duterte at the San Beda College of Law and a fellow member of Lex Talionis Fraternitas. Yasay, meanwhile, was a roommate of Duterte when they were taking up law.

‘Hypocritical institution’

Duterte has harsh words for the Catholic Church.

“They campaigned against me. Everybody was saying ‘Do not vote for Duterte.’ Fine. I said, let this election be a referendum between the Catholic Church and me. So who was right?

“Look, were you able to stop me? How many of you bishops were able to stop me?” Duterte asked reporters here.

Duterte said Catholic Church leaders should not hold themselves morally superior because their “hypocritical institution” has a long history of wrongdoings.

He also challenged the bishops to a debate so that he can expose, before assuming office on June 30, these alleged sins of the church.

“You have been castigating me or criticizing me – you want a debate before I become president? Okay! All of you bishops stand up. I will tell you the sins of the Catholic Church beginning from the time the institution of the papacy was established,” Duterte said.

“I will lecture until June 29 the sins of the Catholic Church, and whether or not you are still relevant. The most hypocritical institution is the Catholic Church,” he added.

Duterte also said he can name bishops who allegedly took mistresses.

“If I start to name the bishops who got married or about the women in their lives, the Catholic Church would fall down,” he said.

“Do not think you are the moralizing agents of society. As long as you are a human being, you are bound to fall down... You’re all pageantry.”

Duterte also accused some members of the clergy of asking favors from the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, especially luxury vehicles allegedly for charity work.

This amounts to graft and corruption, and also violated the principle of separation of Church and State, he said.

Duterte, who has been Davao City mayor for over 20 years, said Catholic leaders have also approached him for various requests.

“You ask so many favors even from me. I can show you the letters,” he said.

Duterte maintained, however, that he has deep belief in God but does not need a religion to show his faith.

“I have this deep, abiding faith in God but that does not mean that you have to have a religion, you have to follow somebody, that you have to get a message from this and that,” he said.

“Why do I have to go to a human being to whisper my sins and ask for forgiveness from him? Who are you to listen to my sins and give me absolution? You are not God.” – With Alexis Romero, ABS-CBN News